Collective housing intercom apparatus

ABSTRACT

The invention makes it possible to call a resident of collective housing even when a room number of the resident is unknown. A collective housing entrance substation is connected to residential master stations through a controller thereof, and a name retrieval module is connected to the controller, the name retrieval module having a memory in which a name and/or room number of a resident is registered in advance, a button operated to display the name and/or room number of the resident registered in advance, a name indicator for displaying the name and/or room number of the resident registered in advance, and a call button that is operated with the name and/or room number of the resident registered in advance displayed to call the residential master station of the resident.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a collective housing intercom apparatus and, particularly, to a collective housing intercom apparatus with which a resident in collective housing can be called even when a room number of the resident is unknown.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Apparatus having a structure as shown in FIG. 5 have been known as collective housing intercom apparatus of this type. In FIG. 5, the collective housing intercom apparatus according to the related art has a collective housing entrance substation 10 installed in a shared part of the collective housing and residential master stations 20 a, 20 b, . . . installed in respective rooms in the collective housing.

[0005] The collective housing entrance substation 10 has a controller 110 for controlling each part (circuit), a communication module 120 for communication with a resident, ten keys 130 for inputting a room number of a resident, and a call button 140 for calling the residential master station of a resident. The communication module 120, the ten keys 130, and the call button 140 are connected to the controller 110, and each of the residential master stations 20 a, 20 b, . . . is connected to the controller 110 through a transmission line L10.

[0006] A description will now be made on a method of operating the collective housing intercom apparatus having such a structure.

[0007] When a visitor inputs a room number of a resident (hereinafter referred to as a “first resident”) who is associated with the residential master station 20 a (hereinafter referred to as a “first residential master station 20 a”), for example, using the ten keys 130 of the collective housing entrance substation 10 and depresses the call button 140 to call the resident, a call signal including an address of the first residential master station 20 a is output from the controller 110, and the call signal is transmitted to the first residential master station 20 a through the transmission line L10.

[0008] This puts the first residential master station 20 a in a called state in which a call-up tone sounds from a residential speaker (not shown) and a ringing tone sounds from an entrance substation speaker (not shown) of the collective housing entrance substation 10.

[0009] When a handset (not shown) of the first residential master station 20 a is lifted up, a communication line is formed between the first residential master station 20 a and the collective housing entrance substation 10 to allow communication between them.

[0010] However, the collective housing intercom apparatus having such a structure has problems in that a resident in the collective housing cannot be called when the room number of the resident is unknown and in that a wrong resident can be called due to a mistake in depressing the ten keys.

[0011] The invention was made to solve the above problems, and it provides a collective housing intercom apparatus with which a resident of collective housing can be called even when the room number of the resident is unknown and which eliminates the possibility of calling a wrong resident.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] In order to solve such problems, in a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention, a collective housing entrance substation is connected to a residential master station through a controller thereof, and a name retrieval module is connected to the controller, the name retrieval module having a memory in which a name and/or room number of a resident is registered in advance, a button operated to display the name and/or room number of the resident registered in advance, a name indicator for displaying the name and/or room number of the resident registered in advance, and a call button that is operated with the name and/or room number of the resident registered in advance displayed to call the residential master station of the resident.

[0013] A collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention may have a ten-key module for retrieving a name and/or room number of a resident to be called from the memory and registering or changing the name and/or room number of the resident in the memory.

[0014] A collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention may have a controlling circuit for inputting the initial letter of a name of a resident to be called from the memory with the ten-key module and displaying the same on the name indicator to retrieve the name of the resident directly.

[0015] A collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention may have a personal computer for registering and changing a name and/or room number of a resident in the memory.

[0016] A personal computer of a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention may have a computer memory for storing a name and/or room number of a resident in advance using pre-installed dedicated software and for transferring it to the memory for registration or alteration.

[0017] With a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention, since a name of a resident registered in advance can be displayed on the name indicator of the collective housing entrance substation, a resident can be called even when the room number of the resident to be called is unknown if the name of the resident is known. Since a resident to be called can be displayed on the indicator and the resident can be called while confirming the display, there is no possibility of calling a wrong resident by inputting a wrong room number.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention;

[0019]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention;

[0020]FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the collective housing entrance substation shown in FIG. 2;

[0021]FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention; and

[0022]FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the related art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] A preferred embodiment of a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

[0024]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention has a collective housing entrance substation 1 installed in a shared part of collective housing and residential master stations 2 a, 2 b, . . . installed in each of rooms of the collective housing, and each of the residential master stations 2 a, 2 b, . . . is connected to the collective housing entrance substation 1 through a transmission line L1.

[0025] The collective housing entrance substation 1 has a controller 11 for controlling each part (circuit), a communication module 12 for communication with a resident, and a name retrieval module 13 for retrieving a name and/or room number of a resident. The name retrieval module 13 has a controlling circuit 131 for retrieving a name of a resident, a name indicator 132 for displaying a name and/or room number of a resident, a memory 133 in which names and/or room numbers of residents are registered in advance, buttons 134 operated to display a name and/or room number of a resident (hereinafter referred to as “operation buttons 134”), and a call button 135 for calling the residential master station of a resident. The operation buttons 134 are constituted by a cancel button 134 a, an upper arrow button 134 b, and a down arrow button 134 c.

[0026] The controller 11 is connected to the transmission line L1, the communication module 12, and the controlling circuit 131 of the name retrieval module 13. The name indicator 132, the memory 133, the call button 135, and the cancel button 134 a, the up arrow button 134 b, and the down arrow button 134 c constituting the operation buttons 134 are connected to the control circuit 131.

[0027] An operation of the collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention will now be described.

[0028] When the up arrow button 134 b or down arrow button 134 c constituting the operation buttons 134 is first depressed to call a resident of collective housing, e.g., a resident (hereinafter referred to as a “first resident”) who is associated with the residential master station 2 a (hereinafter referred to as a “first residential master station 2 a”), the name and room number of the resident are read from the memory 133 under the control of the control circuit 131, and the name and room number of the resident are displayed on the name indicator 132. When the up arrow button 134 b or the down arrow button 134 c is further depressed to scroll the display screen of the name indicator 132, the name and room number of the first resident appear on the name indicator 132.

[0029] When the call button 135 is depressed with the name and room number of the first resident displayed on the name indicator 132, call information for calling the first residential master station 2 a is transmitted from the controlling circuit 131 to the controller 11. When such call information is detected by the controller 11, a call signal including an address of the first residential master apparatus 2 a is output from the controller 11, and the call signal is transmitted to the first residential master station 2 a through the transmission line L1.

[0030] This puts the first residential master station 2 a in a called state in which a call-up tone sounds from a residential speaker (not shown) and a ringing tone sounds from a entrance substation speaker (not shown) of the collective housing entrance substation 1.

[0031] When a handset (not shown) of the first residential master station 2 a is lifted up, a communication line is formed between the first residential master station 2 a and the collective housing entrance substation 1 to allow communication between them.

[0032] While “names and room numbers of residents” are registered in the memory 133 in the above embodiment, the contents registered in the memory 133 may be changed to “names of residents” only or “room numbers of residents” only through an operation of a setting button (not shown) of the controlling circuit 131.

[0033] In the above embodiment, since the name of a resident of the collective housing can be retrieved, the first resident can be called even when the room number of the first resident is unknown if the name of the first resident is known.

[0034]FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention. In FIG. 2, parts that also appear in FIG. 1 in common are indicated by like reference numerals and will not be described in detail.

[0035] In the present embodiment, a ten-key module 14 is further connected to a controlling circuit 131 of a collective housing entrance substation 1 as shown in FIG. 1.

[0036]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the collective housing entrance substation 1 shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, parts that also appear in FIG. 2 in common are indicated by like reference numerals.

[0037] In FIG. 3, a name retrieval module 13, the ten key module 14, and a communication module 12 that constitute the collective housing entrance substation 1 are arranged in a row in the vertical direction. Disposed on top is the name retrieval module 13 that has a name indicator 132, four pictorial symbols 36, a cancel button 134 a, an up arrow button 134 b, a down arrow button 134 c, and a call button 135; disposed in the middle is the ten-key module 14 that has a multiplicity of keys 31 and an illuminating section 35 constituted by an LED for illuminating the keys 31; and disposed at the bottom is the communication module 12 that has a speaker grill 32, a communication indicator lamp 33, and a microphone grill 34.

[0038] An operation of the collective housing intercom apparatus shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will now be described.

[0039] First, a description will be made on the registration (addition or changing) of a name and a room number of a resident in the memory 133 in the first embodiment.

[0040] A secret code is first input using the keys 31 of the ten-key module 14 to display a menu screen on the name indicator 132 of the name retrieval module 13. Then, the up arrow button 134 b or the down arrow button 134 c is depressed to switch the menu screen to a screen for inputting a name. Since alphabets are assigned to the multiplicity of keys 31 forming a part of the ten-key module 14, a name of a first resident is input by operating those keys to register the name of the first resident in the memory 133. Thereafter, names of other residents are sequentially registered in the memory 133 through similar operations.

[0041] Next, when the names of the residents are registered, the setting button (not shown) of the controller 11 is depressed to put the system of the collective housing intercom apparatus in a “setting mode”. In the setting mode, the name of the first resident is displayed on the name indicator 132.

[0042] When an operator stationed at the first residential master station 2 a in advance lifts up the handset, a communication line is formed between the first residential master station 2 a and the collective housing entrance substation 1. A conversation is then held between the operator stationed at the residential master station 2 a and another operator stationed at the collective housing entrance substation 1, and the call button 135 is depressed after confirming the first resident and the room number of the first residential master station 2 a displayed on the name indicator 132. The name and the room number of the resident can be thus set. Thereafter, the names and room numbers of the other residents are set through similar operations.

[0043] A method of calling the first resident using the keys 31 on the collective housing entrance substation 1 will now be described. In the present embodiment, the alphabet “S” is assigned to an n-th key among the keys 31 (the n-th key is hereinafter referred to as an “S key”). It is assumed that the name of the first resident is “SAITO”.

[0044] When a visitor knows that the name of the first resident is “SAITO” although the room number of the first resident is unknown, the visitor depresses the S key among the keys 31 of the collective housing entrance substation 1. Then, names of residents such as “SAITO”, “SATO”, and “SUZUKI” to which the alphabet “S” is assigned and room numbers associated with the residents are sequentially read from the memory 133 under the control of the controlling circuit 131, and the resident's name “SAITO” that is in the first place in the alphabetical order is displayed on the name indicator 132 along with the room number. When the display screen of the name indicator 132 is scrolled, the names such as “SAITO” and “SUZUKI” are sequentially displayed along with the room numbers.

[0045] When the call button 135 is depressed with the first resident “SAITO” displayed on the name indicator 132 and thus selected, a call signal including an address of the first residential master station 2 a is output from the controller 11 in the same way as that in the first embodiment, and the call signal is transmitted to the first residential master station 2 a through the transmission line L1. Similarly to the first embodiment, this puts the first residential master station 2 a in a called state and thereafter the handset of the first residential master station 2 a is lifted up. Thus, a communication line is formed between the first residential master station 2 a and the collective housing entrance substation 1.

[0046] The above-described second embodiment also eliminates the possibility of calling a wrong resident because a resident can be called with the name and room number of the resident displayed on the name indicator to confirm the name of the resident. In the second embodiment, a resident to be called can be retrieved from the initial letter of the name of the resident without scrolling the display screen of the name indicator until contents indicating the relevant resident are displayed as in the above-described first embodiment. This provides better operability than in the first embodiment, and the advantage becomes more significant when the invention is used in an intercom system for collective housing of a large scale.

[0047] While a name of a resident is retrieved by depressing a key to which an alphabet is assigned in the second embodiment, a name of a resident may be retrieved using the call button of the name retrieval module or using the ten-key module and the operation button in combination. Further, when a room number of a resident is known, the room number may be input using the keys to call the resident in the same way as that of a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the related art.

[0048]FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention. In FIG. 4, parts that appear also in FIGS. 1 to 3 in common are indicated by like reference numerals and will not be described in detail.

[0049] In the present embodiment, a personal computer 15 is further connected to a controlling circuit 131 of a collective housing entrance substation 1 as shown in FIG. 2 through a serial interface 136. The personal computer 15 has a computer memory 151 in which names and/or room numbers of residents are stored in advance using pre-installed dedicated software, and the computer memory 151 is connected to the serial interface 136.

[0050] In the present embodiment, registered information of the names and/or room numbers stored in the computer memory 151 can be transferred to the memory 133 through the serial interface 136 and the controlling circuit 131 by means of the key-board (not shown) operation of the personal computer 15, which makes it possible to register the names and room numbers of the residents in the memory 133 in the same way as that in the second embodiment. The names of the residents may be registered using alphabets assigned to the keys 31 in the same way as that in the second embodiment.

[0051] In the third embodiment described above, the name “SAITO” of the first resident can be displayed on the name indicator 132 in the same way as that in the second embodiment, and the first resident can be called after confirming the contents of the display. In the present embodiment, since the personal computer 15 is connected to the controlling circuit 131 of the name retrieval module 13 through the serial interface 136, any computer having a serial interface may be used if the software is prepared, and the names of the residents can be registered using a compact hand-held computer, for example.

[0052] While the registration of names of residents has been described in the above embodiments, names of residents can be changed through an operation similar to the registration of names of residents. While alphabets are assigned to the keys in the above embodiments, names of residents may be input by assigning characters of another language to them or by assigning alphabets and the characters in combination.

[0053] As apparent from the above description, with a collective housing intercom apparatus according to the invention, since a name of a resident registered in advance can be displayed on a name indicator of a collective housing entrance substation, the resident can be called even when a room number of the resident to be called is unknown if the name of the resident is known. Further, since the resident to be called can be displayed on the name indicator to allow the resident to be called while being confirmed on the display, there is no possibility of calling a wrong resident by inputting a wrong room number. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A collective housing intercom apparatus wherein a collective housing entrance substation is connected to a residential master station through a controller thereof and wherein a name retrieval module is connected to the controller, the name retrieval module having a memory in which a name and/or room number of a resident is registered in advance, a button operated to display the name and/or room number of the resident registered in advance, a name indicator for displaying the name and/or room number of the resident registered in advance, and a call button that is operated with the name and/or room number of the resident registered in advance displayed to call the residential master station of the resident.
 2. A collective housing intercom apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a ten-key module for retrieving a name and/or room number of a resident to be called from the memory and registering or changing the name and/or room number of the resident in the memory.
 3. A collective housing intercom apparatus according to claim 2, comprising a controlling circuit for inputting the initial letter of a name of a resident to be called from the memory with the ten-key module and for displaying the same on the name indicator to retrieve the name of the resident directly.
 4. A collective housing intercom apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a personal computer for registering and changing a name and/or room number of a resident in the memory.
 5. A collective housing intercom apparatus according to claim 4, the personal computer has a computer memory for storing a name and/or room number of a resident in advance using pre-installed dedicated software and for transferring it to the memory for registration or alteration. 